Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVIII. 64 - 66

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Gita Series – 175: Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVIII. Verse 64 – 66

“Listen to My supremely secret words again, the most secretive of all. You are extremely dear to Me, and I shall only say what is beneficial for you. Fix your mind on Me, worship Me and bow down to Me. By doing so you will come to Me alone. I promise you. Resigning all dharma, take refuge in Me alone. I shall absolve you of all your sins. Do not worry.”

This is almost the concluding statement of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad Gita. After having explained to Arjuna, the elaborate steps to attain liberation, Kṛṣṇa conclusively says that surrender unto Him is the best choice for liberation. Kṛṣṇa gives importance to friendship by saying to Arjuna that he is very dear to Him. Both Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, studied, played and grew together. Though, Kṛṣṇa was moving with many others, He had a special interest in Arjuna, not just because he was a noted warrior, but also because of his ability to understand. Added to these qualities, Arjuna never deviated from the scriptural dictums and always followed the path of virtuousness. It is like the Lord extending His hands to those who are spiritually well advanced. This does not mean that the Lord follows the path of partiality. The Lord takes a special interest on those, who truly seeks Him without the handful of prayers and favours. Such yogis are taken over by the Lord Himself, who ultimately leads them to liberation. Even then, the Lord does not dissolve their karmas. He only tells them the ways and means to dissolve their karmas quickly. Karmas can be dissolved only by one’s experience in this world and not otherwise.

The entire Bhagavad Gita is the Lord’s message to these yogis and not just Arjuna alone. Subsequently, He says that Gita should not be imparted to those who are not interested in pursuing the path of righteousness. When the world is totally immersed in darkness of ignorance, the Lord incarnates and sets the world in the right path; as otherwise, the world would sink deeper and deeper without any plausible redemption. All those, who follow the path of virtuousness, will also get sunk along with the demons. If virtuous men are punished, then the sayings of the Scriptures would be falsified. In order to avert the complete catastrophe, the Lord takes avatars and infuses confidence in the hearts of those virtuous men Kṛṣṇa avatar is purely towards this goal only and obviously, the goal has been totally achieved by the Lord. Towards the closing chapters of Bhagavad Gita, Kṛṣṇa becomes too compassionate. He says to Arjun and through him to the entire humanity, “You have suffered enough. I do not want you to suffer any longer. I am your Lord. Surrender unto Me by thinking about Me all the time. I will give you liberation. You have come very close to Me. Just a few steps, you will attain Me. Please do not go back.” Even after these compassionate words, one is unwilling to surrender his ego to Him, then, nobody can save him. He will continue to undergo the pains of birth and death repeatedly.

When a person had fallen into a deep pit, one can throw a rope to save him. If he is not willing to take that rope and claim up, what can one think about him? This is the kind of situation, the humanity is in. The Lord says I am giving you the rope to claim up and even promises that he would be taken to safety. Even then, the fallen person is not acting it means that he is resigned to his fate. The Lord says that one should set aside his ego and surrender to Him through one’s mind. He does not even want a person to suffer physically. Just developing the quality of renunciation, through his mind, is more than enough to attain liberation. Sacrifice is the sole essence of Bhagavad Gita. One can perform any actions without intent on the fruits of actions. Nothing is barred and the only requirement is to stay connected consciously with the Lord all the time. If one takes refuge in the Lord, the Lord will take care of his liberation. He will find the ways and means to absolve all his sins, purify him and ultimately makes him one with Himself. After all, the Lord is the embodiment of compassion and love.

Kṛṣṇa once again tells Arjuna not to worry and asks him to surrender in entirety to Him. The Lord also gives a promise that he will be absolved of all his sins and liberated. He says, “Do not get repeatedly entangled with duties that may be either right or wrong. I am above all the scriptural dictums. When you aim to attain Me, dharmas have no significance. Get out of your ego and come to Me is all that I need from you.”